The line graph illustrates the number of newly graduated students in the UK in 1992, 1997 and 2002, while the bar chart shows the proportions of jobs occupied by graduates during the same years.
Overall, the number of newly graduated students showed a significant increase between 1992 and 1997. However it declined slightly in 2002. In addition, despite the noticeable decrease over the period, the professional category received the highest percentage of graduates. By contrast, clerical and secretarial, sales and other occupations became more common, while the proportion of graduates in managerial and administrative jobs remained relatively stable.
In 1992, there were approximately 160,000 newly graduated students in the UK. The figure increased to just under 200,000 in 1997 before falling to about 180,000 in 2002. Professional jobs had the highest proportion of graduates in all three years, although the figure fell from about 58% in 1992 to just over 40% in 2002. The percentage of graduates working in managerial and administrative jobs stayed almost the same at approximately 20%.
By contrast, the percentage of graduates employed in clerical and secretarial occupations almost doubled, increasing from around 9% in 1992 to approximately 18% in 1997 and 19% in 2002. Similarly, the proportion working in sales rose from about 4% to 10%, while the figure for other occupations increased more gradually from roughly 6% to around 10% over the same period